Yes, it's true, I have had disagreements with Erick in the past. I try to assess the situation, not just the person. It's possible to disagree with someone on one subject and to agree with them on another.

If anything, Erick showed consistency by rescinding Trump's invitation to Red State. Erick didn't want the event to descend into chaos led by my friends over the Barbour episode; he doesn't want a descent into chaos led by Donald Trump.

Some will call me a hypocrite. Go ahead. I've been called worse. And being seen as inconsistent on this matter is better, in my view, than siding with boorishness in an attempt to appear narrowly consistent some marginally important prior position. If I must be narrowly and reflexively consistent, I will remain consistent with my belief that the United States deserves and requires leaders of remarkable character, temperament, intelligence, creativity, and charm. I want it all in my next president. And Trump lacks several key ingredients.

I was supposed to go to RedState Gathering this weekend, but things didn't work out at the list minute. Now, I'm glad I wasn't there.

Red State Gathering is blogger Erick Erickon's annual conservative gabfest. This year, it was in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Reince Priebus, RNC Chairman, was one of the speakers. Priebus is under heavy pressure from Missouri's Ed Martin and others to investigate Henry Barbour's role in political attack ads that accuse the Tea Party of racism. So far, Priebus has blocked any such investigation.

Erickson's answer is nonsense. No, Priebus did not authorize Henry Barbour's attack on the Tea Party. He is not responsible for Barbour's actions.

But Priebus is solely responsible for his own response to irrefutable evidence that Henry Barbour funded the ads. Erickson has made himself culpable in the cover-up by protecting Priebus who is protecting Barbour. (Priebus and Barbour go way back, as we shall see later.) It's typical Republican Establishment "cover your ass" nonsense.

I realize it's considered bad form to set up a guest for humiliation in some circles. I get that. But if you're going to allow Priebus to speak, you have to let him feel the heat for his failure to investigate the shenanigans in Mississippi. By blocking the investigation, Priebus is protecting the bad actors and further alienating grassroots conservatives.

Martin’s request for an investigation would be, one thinks, a no-brainer. This is, after all, the party of Lincoln. Race baiting has no place in the Republican Party, which came to be in the first place because of its staunch opposition to slavery.

But there’s a problem: Take a look at this link to a site for a lobbying group called Capital Resources, which includes a bio for one of the group’s partners, the aforementioned Henry Barbour. If you scan down a bit there is a series of bullet points describing Barbour’s background. The very first one reads as follows: “Helped run RNC Chairman Reince Priebus’ campaign for chairman.”

Here's the most depressing part of this whole sordid story. When faced with the choice of offending the Tea Party or the Establishment, Erickson decided to protect the Establishment.

Maybe Erickson was just being a good and gracious host. That's what I want to think. But to those of us who've been in the streets fighting the establishment, this feels like another sell-out.